How can I get rid of ants without using pesticides?

Question

I have an infant and two cats so I don't want to use any pesticides.

They just seem to find their way into my house and I don't like it! I'm being really good about washing the dishes so there is no food residue on anything but they still keep coming! Any ideas? I thought I heard something about borax and sugar or something? I can't remember now... Any help is much appreciated!

Answer 1

Draw a line with plain white chalk

Answer 2

Borax is a traditional way to get rid of for ants. Mix 1 cup of borax with 1/4 cup of sugar and sprinkle in ant high traffic areas. They carry the borax back to the nest and it kills them.

Another method some people use is equal parts Windex and Ivory Soap in a spray bottle. It is more a repellent than a cure.

Answer 3

We live in a rural area and fight ants all the time.  If you have pets or children (like we do), this is possibly the best answer for you.  Take regular corn meal and make several little piles near the ant entrance.  They love this stuff but they can't digest it.  So they feed their entire colony and then they die.  This may take a week or so (or maybe sooner) but it works like a charm.

Answer 4

Pick your poison. Mixing boric acid powder or borax with sugar water is the most common bait (that is what a popular commercial ant poison, Terro, basically consists of). Boric acid affects ants both externally (when in powder form; similar to diatomaceous earth) and internally (when ingested).The ants bring the poison (borax or boric acid) with them to the colony and spread it around. If you get the quantity and timing just right, you can wipe out a large colony, but it might take several weeks to a few months. A bait that's too strong will kill the ants before they make it home, and a bait that's too weak will only weaken the colony temporarily, so here are some recipes that people have had success with:

*1 cup water, 2 cups sugar, 2 tablespoons boric acid

*3 cups of water with 1 cup of sugar and 4 teaspoons of boric acid.

Also

I've heard about cornstarch, cornmeal or corn flour mixed with a little mustard powder they take it back to the nest, it expands and kills them. It takes awhile.

Answer 5

Use the small ant baits, just put them out of reach of the baby. They take the poison back to the anthill and it kills the entire colony.

Answer 6

i've used talcum  powder before and it works, and it makes the room smell nice

Answer 7

Borax and sugar just won't work. Anything over 8% boric acid will be distasteful to ants. Not to mention ants need to bring a LOT of it back to the nest to wipe-out the colony.

Ants can also recover from boric acid poisoning.

Once ants have found their way into your home, there isn't much you can do. You can try battling them yourself with baits and liquid sprays and you might get lucky... or you might make the problem worse.

Some ants, such as the Odorous House Ant, actually "bud" when they are stressed. This means that if one ant makes it back to the colony before it dies, or if the colony loses about 10% of it's ants, the colony will split. They will break-up into at least two colonies and leave to find new nesting sites. That just doubles your problem.

Up-to-date companies can use Termidor and Phantom to completely cure your current ant problem. The infant and cats would just need to stay out of the spray until it dries. Once it's dry, no worries.

By the way, corn meal is an urban legend and won't work. Those who say it obviously haven't tried it and watched it fail. See the truth here: http://competitionpest.com/index.php/Pes...